Floor-cleaner.



H. H. CRAWFORD.

FLOOR CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED 001.8. 1915.

mh /.-w\..\\.. www... .n mm. .......MMJW .MRW .R\N 3 x Inventor PatentedMay 9,1916.

722 WAM/w..

Witnesses Attorneys HEZEKIAH H. CRAWFORD, OF EL PASO, TEXAS.

nLoonfcLnAnEn.

insinua.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9, invio..

Application filed October 8, 1915. Serial No. 54,880.

To all whom At may concern:

Be it known that I, HEZEKIAH H. CRAW- ronn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at. El Paso, in the count)7 of El Paso and State ofTexas, have invented a new and useful Floor-Cleaner, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention is a device for cleaning orscrubbing ioors, andaims to provide a novel and improved device of that character.

It is the object of the inventionto provide a fioor cleaner embodyingacontinuous belt or apron adapted to be actuated and to move upon theiioor for cleaning or scrubbing the same, the device having means forsupplying water to Vthe belt, means for wringing the dirty water fromthe belt and caching it, and means for tightening the be t.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention hereinv disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure1 is a side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal verticalsection thereof, portions being broken away. Fig. 3 is a cross sectiontaken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are sectional detailstaken on the linesl 4-4, 5-5 and G-6, respectively, of Fig. 1.

In carrying o ut the invention, there is employed an elongated taperedcasing 1 constructed of sheet metal or other suitable material, andcomprising the upper and lower longitudinal sections 2 and 3 ofchannel-shape and having their edges bent back and interloclred, as at4, for securing the sections together. The sections are slid together bya longitudinal movement relative to one another,[and the casing is'ordinarily inclined in use, the upper end of the sections 2 and 3 beingclosed, and being overlapped and secured together, as at 5. rllhe lowerend of the casing 1 is open, as at 6.

Bars 7 are secured to the sides of the casing adjacent the upper endthereof and projecting beyond said end, and the projecting ends of saidbars 7 are connected by a cross handle 8 whereby said handle may begrasped for pushing or moving the device over the floor.

A transverse roller 9 is mounted within the casing adjacent the upperend thereof, and is provided with terminal runnions 10 journaled betweenrollers 11 carried by the sides of the upper section 2 of the casing,whereby the roller 9 will rotate easily. A

hand crank 12 upon the outside of the casing is attached to one trunnion10, whereby said crank can be rotated for rotating the roller 9. rl`hecrank 12 can be operated by one hand while the other hand is used forgrasping the handle 8. T he roller 9 iscomposed of rubber or otherequivalent material. A second transverse roller 18 of rub ber orequivalent material is carried by the casing beyond the open end 6thereof, said roller 18 being mounted upon a transverse shaft or axle 14terminally engaged with the protruding arms 15 of an arched oryoke-shaped slide 16 movable snugly within the casing adjacent the openend thereof.

An endless belt or apron 17 is trained or passed around the rollers 9and 13, that portion of the belt which passes around the roller 13 beingexposed so as to move upon the floor. The belt 17 may be of any suitableconstruction, and may be provided with bristles if desired.

rlhe slide 1G is adjusted for tightening or loosening the belt, and tothis end, a transverse shaft 18 is journaled through the side portionsof the slide. A spacing sleeve 19 is preferably mounted upon the shaft18 between the side portions of the slide, to hold said slide in shape.rllhe projecting termi- `nals of the shaft 18 work withiny longitudinalslots 2O with which the side of the casing is provided, and gear wheels21. are keyed upon the shaft 18 within the slots 20, and mesh with rackteeth 22 along the lower edges of the slots 20, whereby when the shaft18 is rotated, the slide 16 will be moved in one direction or the otherfor loosening or tightening the belt. The shaft 18 has a head 23 at eachend, and a rod 24 is slidable diametrically through one'of the heads 23,and has an angularly extending terminal or finger 25 engageable inwardlythrough an aperture 2G with which the respective side of the casing isprovided beyond the end of the respective slot 20. rlhe rod 24 isflexible or resilient, whereby the l i finger 25 canibelwithdrawn fromthe aper ture 26, and the finger 25 may then be swung. outwardly,whereby the rod 24 provides a crank for enabling the shaft l18 to berotated easily. This allows the belt to be tightened orloosened, asdesired, and after the belt has been adjusted properly, the linger 25being brought adjacent the aperture vor closed end thereof. Theterminals of the aXle orshaft 28 are engaged with a pair of bars `29slidable through the closed end of the casing,and.projecting intohousings 30 engaged with the handle 8 and bolted or otherwiseattachedto: the closed end of the casing. 'Coiled wire expansion springs 31 aredisposed within the housings 3() between blocks 32 therein and collars33 secured upon the bars 29, whereby the springs 31 force the bars orvstems 29 inwardly to move the roller 27 toward the roller 9 forwringing or squeezing the water from the belt 17. The blocks 32 slidablyreceive the outer ends of therbars 29 to assist in guiding said barsforproper movement. s A water tank or reservoir 34 1s mounted lwithin thecasing between the ends thereof,

Y and isdisposed between the upper and lower Y runs Vof the belt 17, theedge portions of the tank whichV is flat being secured to the sides ofthe Leasing 'to be properly supported thereby. The tank 34 embodieslower and upper channel-shaped sections 35-36 having their flangesoverlapped and secured together, as seen in Fig. 3, and said flanges aresecured to the sides ofthe casing section 2. The upper run of the belt17 moves within the upper section 36 of the tank, or over the tank. Theupper end of the tank 34 has ywater readily.

one or more air vents 37, preferably providedwith check orball valves38, to pre-- vent the escape of water, but to allow the in- Gne side ofthe tank 34 is provided adjacent the upper end of the tank with anoutstanding nipple 39 projecting through the respective side of thecasing, and normally closed by a removable screw cap 40. This cap 40 maybe removed to enable the tank to be filled with Attached to the lowerend f of the Vtank is a pet cock 41 whose spigot or valve 42 has ahandle 43 projecting through the respective side of the casing, wherebysaid valve may be operated from the eXterior of the casing. .The petcock 41 is attached to" and discharges into a transverse pipe144 forminga.v discharge nozzle. The

casing for cleaning it out.

ends of the pipe 44 are attached to the ex- 'tensionsA 45 of the edgeportions of the flat tank 34, whereby the pipe 44 is carried by thetank. The pipe 44 has a series of apertures 46 directed toward the lowerrun of the belt, whereby the water is sprayed from the pipe 44 onto thelower run of the belt. l/Vhen the valve 42 is opened, the water is freeto flow into the pipe 44 so as to be sprayed onto the belt.

Secured within or upon the lower section 3 of the casing is an elongatedfiat receptacle 47 for catching the dirty water, the upper end of thereceptacle 47 being open and being disposed below the roller 27, wherebythe dirty water wrung from the belt will flow downwardly into thereceptacle 47 to be caught thereby. One side of the receptacle 47 has anoutstanding nipple 48 adjacent the lower end of said receptacle andprojecting through the respective side of the section 3, and normallyclosed by a removable screw cap 49. The cap 49 may be removed fordraining the dirty water from the receptacle 47.

The upper end of the section 3 is offset, and the offset portion isprovided with a nipple 50, normally closed by a removable screw cap 51,and said cap 51 may be removed, whereby water can be run into the Abail-shaped handle 52 is terminally pivoted to the top of the casing, asat 53, between the ends thereof, and can be used in connection with thehandle 8 for carrying or manipulating the casing.

The upper end of the casing is supported bymeans of a pair of legs 54having their upper ends pivotcd, as at 55, to the bottom of the casingadjacent the upper end thereof, and each of the legs 54 has a rearwardlyprojecting arm 56 connected by a retractile spring 57 with the casing,whereby the springs 57 tend to swing the legs 54 to vertical position,for properly supporting the casing. lVheels 58 are pivotcd to the lowerends of the legs 54 to run upon the floor, said wheels being preferablypivoted between the lower ends of the legs 54 and the limbs of a yoke 59attached to a cross piece 60 secured to the legs. A spacing sleeve 61 ispreferably disposed upon the handle 8, to hold the housings 30 and barsseparated, and this sleeve 61 can rotate upon the handle for theconvenience of the opcrater.

In use, after the fresh water tank 34 is filled, the valve 43 is opened,to allow the water to be sprayed onto the lower run of the belt asdesired. The crank 12 is then Arotated in the proper direction, to moveeither run kof the belt downwardly, and at the same time, the casing ispushed or moved about upon the floor. The moistened belt is thus moveddownwardly into engagement with the.1oor,`fo1 cleaning or scrubbing thesame, and the dirty water will be absorbed by the belt and carriedupwardly with the upper or lower run of the belt. The dirty water iswrung from the belt between the ro-llers 9 and 27, and the dirty wateris caught by the receptacle 47. The dirty water may be drained off fromtime to time by removing the cap 49.

The present device provides an easy and convenient means for cleaning orscrubbing the floor, and is of advantage for obvious reasons.

A catch 62 is secured to the bottom of the casing for engaging the crosspiece 60 when the legs 64 are swung against the casing out of the way,whereby the legs will be held in such position, until they are releasedmanually.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A floor cleaner comprising an elongated inclined casing having itslower end open, a roller carried by the casing adjacent the open endthereof, a second roller mounted within the casing adjacent the upperend thereof, means for rotating the sec- 0nd roller, a belt trainedaround said rollers, a water tank disposed between the upper and lowerruns of the belt and secured to the sides of the casing, the water tankhaving a iilling nipple projecting through one side ofthe casing, thecasing havin@ a water re ceptacle therein below the said tank and beltand having an open upper end below the second roller, and a springpressed roller within the casing cooperating with the second roller toprovide a wringer for wringing the water from the belt, the tank havingspraying means to wet the belt. Y

2. A iioor cleaner comprising an elongated inclined casing comprisingupper and lower channel-shaped sections having their edges bent back andinterlocked, the upper ends of said sections being closed and attachedtogether, the lower end of the casing being open, a roller carried bythe casing adjacent the open end thereof, a second roller mounted withinthe casing adjacent the upper end thereof, means for rotating theseco-nd roller, a belt trained around said roll-V y water from the belt.

3. In a device of the character described, a casing having one end open,a slide movable within the casing adjacent the open end thereof andhaving arms projecting there from, a roller mounted between said arms, asecond roller mounted within the casing adjacent the opposite endthereof, a belt trained around said rollers, a shaft extending throughsaid slide and having a gear, one side of the casing having a slot inwhich said shaft works Vand having rack teeth along one edge with whichsaid gear meshes, and means for rotating and holding said shaft. v

4. In a device of the character described, a casing having one end open,a slide movable within the casing adjacent the open end thereof andhaving arms projecting there from, a roller mounted between the arms, asecond roller mounted within the casing adjacent the opposite endthereof, a belt trained around sad rollers, a shaft extending throughsaid slide and having a gear, one side of the casing having a slot inwhich said shaft works and having rack teeth along one edge with whichsaid gear meshes, and a rod slidably engaging one end of said shaft andhavingV an angularly extending finger, the casing having an aperture forreceiving said finger.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HEZEKIAI-I H. CRAWFORD.

Witnesses:

Il. W. FOSTER, R. B. Ruolo.

@epics el.' thlla patent may be obtained for ve cents each, byaddressing the Gommissioner of atents, Washington, D. C.

